Jeremy Irons Calls 'Batman v Superman' 'Overstuffed' and 'Muddled'

Sheesh, even Alfred is breaking ranks. It's so hard to find good help these days.

Maybe Jeremy Irons's check for "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice" bounced, 'cause he recently joined the chorus of complaints that the DC film was bloated and muddled, saying BvS deserved its beatdown from critics. Irons is set to return for more films, so this could make things awkward on the sets of "Justice League" and the Batman solo movie Ben Affleck is developing. But maybe everyone involved just finds Irons's candor refreshing. They're probably used to it by now, since he's hardly bashful with his opinions on anything.

The Oscar-winning actor's BvS criticism was dropped into a lengthy interview with the Daily Mail's Event magazine. Here's that section of the story, following the reporter's comment that BvS was popular(ish) at the box office but got a kicking from critics:

"'Deservedly so. I mean it took £800 million, so the kicking didn't matter but it was sort of overstuffed...'

He lets those words hang in the air, then laughs at the thought of a film described by one critic as the most incoherent blockbuster in years.

'It was very muddled. I think the next one will be simpler. The script is certainly a lot smaller, it's more linear.'

There's no getting out of it now.

'I'm tied into The Batman at the minute [the next installment, Justice League Part One, is due next year], which is nice because it's a bit of income... Not that I need a bit of income but it's nice to keep ticking over.'"

At least he's honest, even if some might prefer him to be more loyal to an already kicked horse. But it's a good sign if he's hopeful about the next one, right?